The site of Polichni is located in Western Thessaloniki, between two modern municipalities, Stavroupoli and Polichni. As early as the beginning of the 20th century BCE, Rey (1921) stressed the archaeological importance of the area, while recent excavations by the Archaeological Service have brought to light numerous finds that testify to a long-term occupation from the mid-6th millennium BCE until 2-3rd century CE. Two cemeteries, the eastern and western cemetery, as they are conventionally named, have been associated with the settlement of Polichni, as they are located to the west and east of the site, respectively.
The western cemetery was the burial place of the dead during the Early Iron Age and was probably associated to the settlement found at the Table. The dead were mainly buried in pit or cist graves, while in some cases they were deposited in large pithoi (εγχυτρισμοί). Secondary cremation is well attested in the cemetery and the burnt human remains were collected in urns, which were then placed in pits and often were covered by large flat stones (Lioutas & Gioura 1997, Kotsos et al. 2011, Lioutas 2018). Most cremations were accompanied with different kind of artifacts such as iron knives, jewelry made of iron and bronze, and ceramic spindlewhorls and vessels. Out of the total of 202 urns that have been discovered in the western cemetery of Polichni and date during the Early Iron Age, 64 were selected for study for the purposes of the project.
References
Kotsos, St., Karliabas, I. & Karipidou, E. (2011) Ανασκαφή στο δυτικό νεκροταφείο της «τράπεζας της Πολίχνης», Το Αρχαιολογικό Έργο στη Μακεδονία και Θράκη 25, 255-260.
Lioutas, A. & Gioura, E. (1997) Τοπογραφικές αναζητήσεις ΒΔ της αρχαίας Θεσσαλονίκης με αφορμή τις ανασκαφές σε νεκροπόλεις στους δήμους Σταυρούπολης και Πολίχνης, Το Αρχαιολογικό Έργο Μακεδονίας Θράκης 11, 317-326.
Lioutas, A. (2018) Polichni. A pre-Cassandrian settlement in the region of Thessaloniki, Greece, in: T. Korkut. & Β. Özen-Kleine (ed.) Festschrift für Heide Froning-Studies in Honour of Heide Froning, 213-240 (Istanbul, Ε. Yayinlari).
Rey, L. (1917/19) Observations sur les premiers habitats de la Macedoine, Recueillies par le Service Archéologique de l’Armée d’Orient 1916-1919 (Région de Salonique), BCH 41/43, 91-109
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki